Traveling Alone

I have a close friend who loves to make travel arrangements. We will discuss taking a trip and next thing I know she has chosen the destination and made all the plans. Now I normally love this, it is very easy for me and my friend picks great places to go. This year however I set out to take some trips by myself. Instead of saying I can't go somewhere because I don't want to go alone, I am going. On my first venture I went to a week end workshop in Kansas City. Not the most adventuresome or exotic but I like to start with small steps. At first I felt very alone and wishing I was at home, but I allowed myself to open to the experience. I stayed after the first evening lecture and talked to different people instead of going back to my room. The second day I made sure that I met new people, sharing meals with them and joining a group for a walk. I found the people I had met the evening before and continued to build new friendships. By the end of the week end I had met many interesting people and felt like I had new friends, some I hated to leave. When I was driving back to the airport, I felt so different from what I was feeling a few days earlier. I felt strong and whole instead of alone and afraid. Now I don't have to wait for my friend to make all the arrangements. My next solo trip will be next month. I am going to a convention in Salt Lake City. I will be meeting up with people that I have only met once or twice and spending five days with them. I feel like I am really opening up for a new experience and I know that my state of mind will make all the difference. I have learned that to make a successful solo journey you have to push beyond the boundaries normally set for yourself. Be open and willing to see things from a new perspective and talk to as many people as possible. You will find yourself having a lot of fun and experience situations in a whole new way.

Written by Marilyn Joy

Define Yourself Guest Author

Photo {Flickr-Brooklyn Museum}

"I dwell in possibility"

The challenge for us all is to look to the splendor within, to see all the amazing possibilities that exist in us. It takes faith to believe that we are incredibly beautiful when we see with the eyes of the world. We always have the ego telling us that we are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, we won't have enough. Enough, enough, enough, a word I would like to eliminate from my vocabulary!
For me spending time in meditation quiets the voice telling me what is wrong with me and my life. Like a nagging mother or spouse, I can close the door on the noise. I can look inside to see the beauty that I was created in, I can look inside to see the light that is always there.
The positive thoughts that I encounter durning meditation stay with me all day. I am able to build one though upon another and stay in an awareness of love and light. I am able to live a productive life and give my best to others. As I stay in this awareness I am able to build the life that I have dreamed of and face any challenge with faith.
Emily Dickinson said it beautifully: "I dwell in possibility."

Written by

Define Yourself Guest Author-Marilyn Joy

Photo by[bcnbits]